Houseboat

by Paul Shadinger

  Walter looked up into the sky as he started to speak, “I’ll be the first to admit I had…” He stopped and looked at me as he chuckled, “Well, I still have some problems, but Matt, Hollis should not be walking around in society. Please be careful. I might not show it very well, but I consider you a good friend and I don’t have many.” Another long pause, and I could see Water was embarrassed by his revelation.

  Finally he continued, “In North Seattle there’s a strip club called Robbie’s,” I nodded my head to show him I knew about the men’s club. “I know a woman who used to dance there, and she knew Hollis and Price back in the old days. Well, I know her mother knew the two of them, and I think she did too. If she’s still dancing, look for a woman who’s half Vietnamese and half white. I think her name is Lan. Sorry I can’t remember her stripper name for sure, but maybe she could tell you where to look for Hollis.”

  Again, there was a long pause, as Walter continued to gather his thoughts. “For some reason, I think she prefers to only dance during the daytime. Anyway, please be careful.” Walter was now speaking to the ground. I knew he was nervous about his disclosure about his feelings. Other than some therapy Walter might have received back at the VA hospital, this was as close as he ever got to talking about his intimate feelings about the things that had happened back in the jungle.

  I was very touched by his concern, and I smiled warmly at him. “Thanks, and I’ll be very careful. I promise. You go back and look after Thien. You’re a very lucky man. I envy you.”

  His went beet red, and his smile lit up his face. “I know, I’m lucky to have both of you in my life.” He surprised me by extending his arms and I gave him a big hug. It was the first time I’d ever hugged him and the first time he’d showed me so much of his emotions. It would seem that Thien was good for him.

  As I released Walter from our hug, I had to turn away quickly so he didn’t see the tears in my eyes. The more I got to know him, the more I realized how special he was.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  The ride back to the ferry was both quiet and reflective. I thought about turning on some tunes, but once the radio was on the noise got in the way of my thoughts, I quickly turned it off. I needed the silence to help try and make sense of all the information I’d gotten from Walter. Normally I don’t let BJ sit in my lap when I drive, but somehow she seemed to know I’d allow her to sit on me this time. As I drove, my mind kept jumping between two things. First, what Thien had said about Sharon, secondly what I’d learned from Walter about Price and Hollis.

  As I drove, I remembered the night we’d found Slim dead at the houseboat. I’d wondered how or why someone had hated Slim so much that the person had chosen to kill him with a knife. At the time, the murder had seemed so brutal—so personal—so rife with hate. Now I think I understood why Price had used a knife. His hatred was not at Slim, but at the entire world. Price was dying of cancer, and he wanted to lash out and hurt others. The fact that someone had paid him to kill Slim was probably secondary. I wondered if he needed to kill because it was a way to divest himself of some of his hate and anger. Chances are that something he’d picked up in SE Asia was the likely cause of his cancer, which naturally had just fueled his rage.

  By the time I got to the ferry dock, it was raining lightly, and the slow slap of the windshield wipers was keeping us company on our way. Because of my visit and all the information I’d learned from Walter, I’d totally forgotten I’d promised I was going to call Jeff L. and Sakol. Sitting at the ferry dock waiting for the next boat, I remembered I needed to call and I punched in Jeff L’s number. He picked it up after the second ring.

  “Homicide, Detective Davenport speaking, “

  “Jeff, it’s Matt. Good morning.”

  “Good Morning. What’s up? By the way, I tried to call you a couple of times the past couple of days but there was no answer.” After a slight pause, his voice seemed to mellow a little, “I didn’t like the way things turned out the other day when you were here. I’ll admit I was a little upset with you, but you didn’t deserve that. Sorry. Anyway, since I couldn’t find you, I figured you were out, or at Sharon’s.”

  If I was going to tell him what I’d learned, I had to tell him where I’d been. “I’ve been over on the peninsula. I wanted to see an old army buddy.”

  The sharp tone in his voice returned, “Matt, you aren’t doing anything about the John Doe case are you? Frank will have your ass for breakfast if he finds out you’re still poking around.”

  “Jeff L., why would you ask that?” I asked in mock surprise. “You know I always do what I’m told.”

  He snorted as he replied, “Yeah, right! I know you and the,” there was a pause and then he barked in to the phone, “Hey! I just remembered you still have that photograph of the John Doe. I want it returned, now.”

  “I thought I gave that back to you.”

  His voice was getting frosty, “Matt, no bullshit, I want it back. I want it back today. Understood?”

  I chose to ignore his command, “Well, I’m calling because I promised to tell you if I ever discovered any information.”

  Jeff’s voice was so loud BJ lifted her head up and looked at me. “God Damn it, Matt, we told you to stay away from the whole case. I can’t help you if Frank tells me to pick you up. Please tell me you’re not getting more involved in this, tell me you ain’t that stupid.”

  “Yeah, well I guess I’m that stupid.” I rushed on so I could tell Jeff L. what I wanted before he interrupted. “I found out who the John Doe you had in the morgue was,” I paused and Jeff remained silent, “His name was Dennis Price, and I believe his killer is a guy named Hayward Hollis. They served together in Nam, in the same group as I did. I didn’t know them over there but my friend told me he knew them both, and had actually been with them on a couple of missions to places our government still says we never entered. The two of them were very close friends. My friend believes he overheard somewhere along the line that Hollis was now a mechanic. That’s a gun for hire,”

  Jeff interrupted, “I know what a mechanic is.” His voice was now cold, and tinged with a surly edge. “Why did this Hollis guy kill Price if they were friends?”

  “My friend overhead a pact the two of them made out in the jungle one night. They were lovers, and they promised each other neither one would ever leave the other behind if one of them was so wounded they couldn’t go on. They agreed to kill the other person if that person was ever in a bad situation.

  “Jeff, you saw the autopsy. You know Price was so sick he was almost dead anyway. When he went down in the vacant lot, he wasn’t able to move, so Hollis went through with their pact and killed him. Price was the one with the contract, and I believe Hollis may now have taken over the mechanic’s role.”

  Jeff was silent, for a moment, and then asked, “What’s the name of your buddy? I want to talk to him.”

  “Sorry, Jeff …I don’t remember. Besides, he doesn’t want to get involved.”

  “He’s already involved. What’s his name?” Now Jeff’s voice was rising in volume.

  “Sorry, Jeff, I didn’t catch his name.”

  His voice exploded in my ear, “Listen, you motherfucker, if you think you’re going to—” and I pushed the end button on the phone. As quickly as I could, I pushed the end button again and held it down, turning off my cell phone. I was not going to rat Walter out. Besides, I doubted if he was going to give Jeff any more information than he had given me. I realize it’s not my place to make that decision, but I also served with Walter, and I could see no reason to subject Walter to any form of interrogation from either Jeff L. or Sakol. If Jeff L. had been a bit more civil, I’d have told him about the strip club. But in my head, I justified that club was a long shot, and I really wasn’t keeping all that much from the two of them.

  I thought about the strip club, and decided I didn’t want to go there by myself. Because that was
the case, I needed to give Scott a call to see if he wanted to go strip club hopping with me, in the middle of the day.

  I knew that was going to make his day. Talk about your decadent activity, visiting a strip club in the middle of the day. I just couldn’t help it, I was embarrassed.

  But I made the call anyway.

  CHAPTER 27

  After I left Scott a message asking if he could meet me, I was sure I could hear his first comment, “Why the hell are we going to a strip bar in the middle of the day?” And then he’d want to know why I even wanted to meet him at a strip bar. Of all the places in Seattle to meet somebody, why a strip bar? Starbucks—yes. Strip clubs—no! I don’t know if it was a good thing or not, but he hadn’t answered his phone and I didn’t have to explain my reasons for meeting there. I just left him a message telling him I had some very important information to share, and I needed for him to call me as soon as possible.

  I debated on going to the strip club without him, but as silly as this sounds, I wanted somebody with me. I hadn’t even gotten out of downtown when my cell phone rang. It was Scott. He apologized but there was no way he could meet me today, but he was free tomorrow afternoon. He did me a favor and didn’t grill me why I wanted to meet him in a strip club in the middle of the day. I gave him a time to meet me at Robby’s and he agreed.

  I probably should hate to admit this, but I know exactly where Robby’s located. I go there about once every couple of years. Being honest, I like to look at the various types of men who go to those places as much as I like watching the girls. Don’t worry, people. I go there mainly for the women, but there’s no question it’s a great place to watch the watchers.

  In the past, I’ve always attended in the evenings, but since Walter said the woman usually worked only days, I thought Scott and I should meet there around two in the afternoon. I always wondered what kind of perverts hung out at a strip club on a bright sunny day, and it looked like I was going to have the chance to find out.

  The next afternoon when I opened the front door it was like walking into a dark cave, and the volume of the music felt like a wall. The music was so loud it literally felt like someone was pushing against my chest. Once I was inside, I waited behind a velvet-covered chain and I stood there watching and waiting.

  Eventually, a burly man in a rolled up short sleeve shirt with huge exposed biceps, many tattoos, and half-unbuttoned to show off his many gold necklaces barreled his way to where I was waiting. There’s something about the way men who lift heavy weights walk. Their arms don’t hang at their sides, they make semi-circles. It’s as if they’re bowlegged, except I’m talking about their arms and not their legs. The bouncer took my money and then unhooked the chain blocking my way. Because of the darkness of the room, it took several seconds for my eyes to become accustomed. I spotted a seat against a wall, and I waited for my eyes to become better adjusted.

  An attractive scantily clad young woman with an excessive amount of makeup came to my table and took my drink order. The state of Washington has several antiquated or just stupid laws about alcohol and sexual matters. One such law is that you can’t have alcohol and nudity in the same area. Since the girls were nude when they’re on stage, the only beverages they allow are non-alcoholic. Even so, the price they charged would make the average person think they were drinking top brand single malt Scotch instead of watered down Coca-Cola.

  Finally, my eyes became acclimated to the room, and I started to look around. I was surprised at how many men were there. It was quite a good crowd. Since I was a tad bit early, I wasn’t surprised Scott wasn’t there.

  I spotted an older Asian man sitting in the front row directly in front of the main stage. His chair was less than three feet from the stage and he was leaning forward from the waist, his elbows resting on his thighs. Whenever one of the dancers was nude and would move so that she exposed her crotch to his gaze, he’d move his head and body so he could see her exposed parts better. Most of the dancers just ignored him, performed their number, and then left the stage. One of the dancers became aware of his stare, so she adjusted her dance to aim it directly at him. She finished her dance by crouching down directly in front of him and slowly spread her legs so he had a completely unobstructed view of her vaginal region.

  When she finished, he clapped his hands, applauding wildly as he nodded his head. Just before she left the stage, he threw a bill on the stage, but it was too dark for me to see the denomination. It must have been substantial because when she picked it up and looked at it, she went back to him and as she crouched in front of him again as she blew him a kiss. Then she stood and quickly ran off the stage.

  After she left the stage, the Asian fellow took off his glasses, removed a handkerchief from his back pocket, wiped his face and then his glasses. By the time the next dancer was ready to go, he had his handkerchief back in his pocket, his glasses on his nose, and he was ready to go again. I could feel the grin on my face.

  Sitting on my left was a young man in a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt. There was a very young, very tiny Asian girl sitting with him. From time to time, she’d dance for him and then sit with him. I use the word dance in a very loose way. It was more as if she’d rub her small body all over him for the length of the song. They were together the entire time I was in the club.

  I was sitting at my table for about ten minutes when a man entered, and as he walked past me, I noticed that both his front and his backside were flat. His face was flat, and he had no buttocks sticking out behind him. When you viewed his body from the front or the rear, he looked fairly normal, but when viewed from the side, it was as if he was made out of a rubber eraser.

  The man was stocky and he had virtually no neck. His head just disappeared into very broad shoulders. His appearance was fierce. I assumed he must’ve been a regular, because as soon as he sat down, two girls came rushing over to him to hug him. As the man took his seat, one of the girls went, got her drink and her cigarettes, and returned to sit with him. Both young women kept their hands on some part of his body while they sat with him. The one thing I noticed was when he talked, his face would light up in a smile, and his entire appearance seemed to soften.

  Still looking around the room, I noticed some of the women were exposing their breasts to their customers when they danced directly in front of them at the private tables. This was unusual; normally in the past when I saw them dance directly in front of a patron they did not expose themselves during a lap dance. Also, they would never let the men touch certain areas. Today, I watched as the girls allowed the men to suck on their nipples, and fondle them under their panties. Occasionally, the girls would actually reach inside of a man’s pants and touch him. I was starting to realize there was a big difference between attending at night and during the day.

  When I first sat down, a girl on my right was just starting to dance for a gentleman. For the next three songs, the young lady lay upon, rubbed, and fondled her customer, and allowed him to fondle her. I didn’t want to stare, but it looked like some of his fingers were inside her thong. During the entire third song, she just rubbed her bottom up and down in his lap, as firmly as possible. As the song finished he reached out and grasped her hips, holding her tight against his lap. When she finished, he paid her, then immediately pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. I tried not to laugh, but wasn’t very successful. I don’t smoke, but I’ve heard a cigarette tastes great after you climax.

  This was the first time I’d ever been in a strip club during the day, and I was also surprised at the variety of women who were dancing. The last time I’d been at the club was late at night, and as I remembered there were mainly white girls with perhaps a token black and an oriental thrown in. Today there were several black gals, and a few different Asian races. I only saw two white women.

  When I looked up at the stage again there was a new gal just getting ready to dance. This was one of the two white women and at first g
lance, I thought she seemed a little heavy for a dancer, but then I realized what I was thinking was unfair. I’ve read somewhere overweight people are the most oppressed minority group. Many people think of overweight people as slowwitted. Few men seem to think of them as sexy. This stripper was tall, maybe 5’ 10” or so, and large, my guess was she was a good 35 to 45 pounds overweight. I was just really surprised to see someone her size dancing. Perhaps Rubenesque was more appropriate than heavy.

  The other thing I noticed about the lady was the way she stood. I’ve noticed that so many heavy women seem to stand slumped, round shouldered, their shoulders hunched forward. This woman stood with her shoulders back and the look on her face seemed to tell the world she was large and in charge. After watching her for a while, I thought her attitude was actually very sexy and I found her to be extremely sensual. Her face was beautiful.

  Now that it was her turn on stage, she seductively exposed her ample breasts one at a time, but kept her front lower region clothed. She had a sexy bottom, and the thread of her thong disappeared between her full cheeks. I had to admit her dance was sexy, and she really tried hard at being provocative. She succeeded in that. Of all the women I’d seen dancing so far this day, she was by far the best dancer. She was very erotic. It also appeared that she was very popular, since when she was not on stage, most of the men were asking her to perform lap dances.

  One lady came by and sat next to me for a moment. She smelled just as exotic as she looked. She told me her name, but the music was so loud I couldn’t understand her. I spoke directly in her ear, and asked her what her ethnic background was. She told me that she was half Vietnamese and half white. She was stunningly beautiful. Her breasts were small when compared to many of the rest of the dancers, and many would consider her a bit heavy in the hips, but her face was breathtaking. Just as she asked me if I wanted a lap dance, I saw Scott arrive. So I smiled at her, and asked her to come by a little later.